Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

ISPT0177A

Incident date

October 13, 2023

Location

بيت لاهيا, Beit Lahia, North Gaza, the Gaza Strip

Geolocation

31.551277, 34.509233 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On October 13th 2023, an alleged Israeli strike on the Dawas family’s house in Beit Lahia, Gaza Strip killed four civilians belonging to the Dawas family, including a woman and two children.

The deceased family members were remembered in numerous social media tributes. A 37-year old Mounir Harb Rizq Dawas was killed together with his wife Nida Abdulkarim Hasan Safi and their children, a 2-year old son Mohammed Monir Harb Dawas and a 1-year-old daughter Sewar Monir Dawas.

Mousa Dawwas mourned the death of Mounir, his wife and children in a Facebook post, attaching a picture of a young bearded man near a swimming pool. Tagreed Dawwas, Nader Salah, Diya Dawas, and Ahmad Dawwas also posted their tributes on Facebook, sharing the images of the late Mounir.

A relative Ramzi Dawwas mentioned the four named above who were killed along with other members of their family killed later, with the address Beit Lahia, entrance to Ezbet Dawas, west of Abbas Kilani roundabout, Al-Shaima Street. It is unclear if this address applies to this incident of another strike affecting the Dawas family.

Airwars has matched the names of some of the civilians killed with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023, which explicitly mentions that names on the list are “victims of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip”. Taken with one other source attributing the strike to Israel, Airwars therefore has graded this strike as ‘likely’ an Israeli action.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

The victims were named as:

Family members (4)

Monir Dawas منير دواس
37 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 801537507
Nida Abdulkarim Hasan Safi نداء عبذالكريم حسان صافي
Adult female killed
Mohammed Monir Dawas محمد منير دواس
2 years old male killed Matched to MoH ID 444866636
Sewar Monir Dawas سوار منير دواس
1 years old female killed

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention a residential building allegedly struck at the entrance to Ezbet Dawas (عزبة دواس) in Beit Lahia (بيت لاهيا). Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further. The generic coordinates for Beit Lahia are: 31.551277, 34.509233

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4
  • (2 children1 woman1 man)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (9) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (5) [ collapse]

  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Diya Dawas facebook
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Ahmad Dawwas
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Nader salah
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Tagreed dawwas
  • This media contains graphic content. Click to unblur.

    Source: Mousa dawwas

Israeli Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military
  • Israeli Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Airstrike
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Residential building
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4
  • (2 children1 woman1 man)
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Israeli Military

Sources (9) [ collapse]